Camera



Jan. 26, 1932. H. L. NELMS ET AL CAMERA Original Filed Aug. 22. 1927 I 2 25 0 .30 15/ 2/ Z5, Z7 5/ iii-121:; f

- 86 from .the normal Patented Jan. 26,1932

UNITED STATES PATENT oFI-lcn nomnn L. minus, or ALBANY, AND JAMES A. GLENN, or MENANDS, NEW You:

caunm I Application filed August 22,, 1927, 3eria1 No. 214,742. Renewed September 14, 1881.

Our invention relates to cameras and particularly to a device of this character adapted for use in clinical work,

There is at present,so far aswe are aware,

5 no camera which is adapted for conveniently making a photographic record of the progress of'a surgical operation or a record of the pathological conditions discovered in any given case- Among the features which are highly desirable, if not necessary, in such an apparatus, is that it must be capable' of photographin objects lying in a horizontal plane. An or inary camera might, of course, be held L with its axis vertical and directly over a patient on the-operating table, but the difficulty of focusing in this position and the danger of infecting the atient are too great to permit of such use. it is desirable that as small a portion of the apparatus as possible be directly over the ob ect photographed. Furthermore suchia camera. must be adapted to quickly and accurately bring such objects into roper focus,'and in connectionwith this 15 particular feature should be adapted to be readily and accurately adjusted at any angle or in any position. l

While the ordinary camera may beadapted for taking photo a hs -of ob ects remote all? of the lens by placing a right angle prism in front of the lens, the negatives which are produced b such pro- 'cedure are in fact positives and the image thereon is erect so that prints made there'- 85 from inthe ordinary way, are reversed or inverted. Prints showing the object photo-i graphed, in its proper osition, may be made from such a negative y placing the side of the plate or film which carries the emulsion upwards, or away from the sensitized paper. A print made in this way, however, is not clear cut because the markings upon the plate or negative which cast shadows upon the sensitized paper are somewhat removed from the plane of the paper so that there is a leakage of light between the negative markings and the sensitized paper.

It is quite desirable that prints should not only show the object in its proper position but should'also give an accurate, sharply defined image. For this reason, it is desirable that the rays of light after passing throu h the prism and the ordinary lenses of t e camera should again be reversed so that not only plates but films either in roll or pack 56 ,form may be used.

The objects of our invention, therefore, are to provide a camera which is adapted to produce a negative of objects remote from the normal field of the camera lens, and from 0a which proper, sharpl defined, positive prints may be made. Anot er object is to provide a device .of' this character which is not only adapted for photographing objects remote from the normal field of the lens, but which 06 ma be used for taking photographs in the or inary way. Another object is to provide a device of this character which may not only be raised and lowered by minute increments, but which may also be positively tipped or "we turned in a plurality of directions and through minute angles to facilitatefocusing upon an object in any position.

With these objects in View our invention includes the novel elements and the combina- 76 tions and arrangements thereof described below and illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which- ,7

Fig. l is a side elevation of our camera with portions thereof removed to show the 80- interior construction;

Fig. 2 is a bottom View of the focusing rack- Fig. 3 is a rear View of the camera; and Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the elevating mechanism taken at right angles to the position shown in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, our camera comprises the usual lens, 1, which is understood to be equipped with the usual shutter and diaphragm and the operating and adjusting mechanisms therefor, which parts are not shown in the drawings. The usual bellows, 2, is provided so that the distance between the lens and the focusing screen or plate may be, a

readily varied. The bellows, 2, is connected to a dark chamber or camera. box proper, 3, which is slidably mounted upon the support,

4. The bottom of the camera box is provided with a plate, 5, having depending portions, 6, 1

. of the bed or support,

at each side which fit over the beveled edges 4. Attached to the plate, 5, is an inverted T bar, 7, which fits slidabl within a com lementar recess in the be 4. The center iottom 0 the T bar, 7, is provided with a rack 8, (see Fig. 2), and a pinion, 9, journaled in the support, 4, engages this rack. The inion, 9, is keyed or pinned to shaft, 10, an may be turned by thumb screw, 11. When the thumb screw, 11, is turned the pinion rotates, and, coacting with the rack, 8, moves the camera box, 3, back and forth upon the support so that it may be properly focused. When the proper focus has been attained the camera may be locked in this position by means of ock screw, 12.

j -Within the camera box, 3, and preferably an angle of forty-five degrees to the axis of the lens is a diaphragm, 13, having a central opening, 14, permitting the pencil of rays from the ens to pass therethrough to a translucent, focusin screen, 15, in t e rear of the camera box. ingedly mounted within the camera box, and upon an axis, 51, quite closev to and parallel with the diaphragm, 14, and running transversely of the camera box, is a reflecting element or mirror, 16. This mirror is normally held upwardl in the position shown by the dotted lines, 16 and against the slopin partition or diaphragm, 17, by means 0 the tension spring, 18. When the reflecting element, 16, is in its normal position, 16', the camera is substantially of the ordinary type and may be used in the same way and for the same purposes as any other camera. The element, 16, is adapted, however, to be swung downwardly about the axis, 51, and to be secured in lighttight contact with diaphragm, 13, by means 0 spring latch, 19.

When 1t is desired to photograph some portion of a patient undergoing an operation on the table, a reflecting element, 50, preferably a right angle prism, is attached in front of the lens, as shown in Fig. 1. Such an element is adapted to reflect to the lens, rays from an object remote from the normal field theredisposed at of, and in connection with the lens, to project an erect image of the object into the camera box. For reasons above stated, this ob'ect image should be reversed or inverted be ore it is projected on a sensitized Phi'fyflhd appropriate modifications in the ordinary camera construction are nry. The top of the camera box, 20, and the partition or diaphragm, 17, are provided with openings, 21 and 22 resp tively, and the opening, 22, is normally ren ered hght-tight by the element, 16, which is held against the partition, 17, by spring, 18. At the top of the camera box, a second focusin screen, 23, may be provided which is spaced m the refleeting element, 16, when in its latchediposition exactly as the focusing screen, 15, is

"ment, 16, is inclined; at forty-five de spaced therefrom. In this way, the image of t e object, when in pro er focus, will appear on the screen, 23,'by resection from element, 16, exactly as it appears by direct projection on the screen, 15, except that the image on the screen, 15, will be erect while the image on the screen, 23, will be inverted.- Hence either screen may be used for focusing, and to facilitate this operation, the screens, 15 and 23, may be provided with focusing hoods, 24 and 25, respectively, which are hinged at, 26 and 27, respectively, and adapted to be swung about the hinges, as shown at, 24, to uncover the translucent focusing screens.

The focusing screens, 15 and 23, together with their covering are held in light-tight contact with the camera box bymeans of the flat springs, 28 and 29, and 30 and 31, respectively. Each of the screens, 15 and 23, to-

ether with their hoods may be sprung away rom the camera box as is well understood in the art, and as shown at, 25, to ermit the insertion between the screen and t e camera box of a plate holder or pack. The sensitized surface of the plate when inserted either in the rear ortop of the camera should lie substantially in the same plane as the focusing screen which it re laces.

n the drawings, t e focusing screens are shown as rectangularl dis osed and this is the proper relation w en t e reflecting eleees to the lens axis. When the screens are is osed so that the dihedral angle between ifiers from. ninety de ees the reflecting element, when inlatche position should lie in the plane bisecting the dihedral angle, and not at an angle of forty-five degrees, as shown.

The support, 4, is pivotally mounted on the staff, 32, and may be locked in any position by means of the screw, 33. The camera may be raised or lowered relative to a fixed support, 34, by means of crank, 35, which turns a spiral cam, 52, coacting with the rack, 36, on staff, 32.

In order that the camera may be tilted both backwardly and forwardl and to either side, we provide two pivote oints, 37 and 38, at ri ht angles to each other, which are 10- cats in the stafi between the fixed support, 34, and su port, 4. Both of these joints are similar an consist, for example, of a tongue, 39, which is pivoted between the bifurcated portions, 40, of the stafi.

In order to rovide a positive and comparatively precise tilting of the camera, one

' side of each. of the joints is provided with a erating table, the camera is moved close to the table so that the reflecting element in front of the lens is approximately in the proper position. The mirror may be assumed to be in a position, 16, so that the object image can be quickly focused on the screen, 15, by means of the focusing screw, 11. If the image is not exactly as desired, the camera may be raised or lowered by means of the crank, 35, tilted forwardly 'or backwardly by means of hand wheel, 44, or to either side by the lower hand wheel, 44'. When. the image upon the screen, 15, has been brought to pro er position and focus, the shutter is close and the mirror or reflecting element, 16, is lowered upon the diaphragm, 13, by means of the thumb screw, 45, until it is engaged and secured by the latch, 19. A plate holder carrying a sensitized plate is then inserted the top of the camera by springing the screen,

23, upwardly, as shown at 23', and the exposure is'made in the usual manner. The mirror, 16, may then be released from the latch, 19, by means of the thumb screw, 46, which coacts therewith through shaft, 47, and the camera is again ready for focusing.

. When it is desired to take photographs in the ordinary way the reflecting element in front of the lens may be removed and the focusing done upon either screen. In this case, instead of inserting the sensitized plate in the top of the camera it is inserted in the back byspringing the focusing screen, 15, and its cover outwardly against the resistance of springs, 28 and 29, so that aplate holder or film pack may be inserted in 'the space formerly occupied by the screen.

While we have described our invention in its preferred embodiment it is to be understood that the words which we have used are words of description rather than of limitation and that changes within the purview of theappended claims may be made without deinvention in its broadest aspects.

What we claim is 1. In a clinical camera for photographing a patient in reclining position, the combine. tion with an objective lens and a reflectin element adapting said camerato photograp an object remote from the normal field of said lens, of means for rejecting the object image produced by sai lens and element in inverted position on a sensitized plate.

2. In a clinical camera for photographing a patient in reclining position, the combination with an ob'ective lens of a reflecting element arrange to reflect to said lens rays from an object remote from the normal field thereof, a focusing screen in said camera arranged to receive an erect image of said ohject thereon, and means for reflecting an inverted .object image to a sensitized plate angularly disposed to the focusin screen.

.3. In a clinical camera for pg parting from the true scope and spirit of our sociated therewith adapting said camera to otographing a screen placed normal to the axis of the lens,

j of means for reversing the image before projecting it on a sensitized plate.

4. In a clinical camera for photographing a patient in reclining position, the combination with an objective lensof a reflecting element exterior of the camera and adapted to present an inverted object image to said lens, a focusing screen in the rear of said camera arranged to receivean erect image of the object bein photographed, and a movable reflecting e em'ent adapted to be interposed between the screen and lens for reflectin an inverted image ,of the object on a sensitized plate. g

5. In a clinical camera for photographing a patient in reclining position, the combina-' tion with an objective lens and a prism arranged to reflect rays to said lens from an obj ect to be photographed and which is remote from the normal field thereof, of a focusing screen, and a movable reflecting element adapted to form a light-tight out off between said lens and screen and reflect the image of the object inproper focus on a sensitized plate angularly disposed 'to the focusing 96 screen.

6. In a clinical camera for photographing a patient in recliningrposition, the combination with a lens, of a right angle prism mounted in front of said lens and arranged to reflect thereto rays from an object remote from the normal field thereof, a focusing screen in the rear of said camera, means for holdin a sensitized plate in a position angularly disposed to said screen, and a hinged reflecting element normally covering. said sensitized plate but adapted to be swung to lie in the plane bisecting the dihedral angle formed by the screen and plate; whereby an inverted object image is projected on the sensitized plate. 7. In a clinical camera for photographing a patient in reclining position, the combination with an objective lens, of means for presentin an inverted object image to said lens where y an erect object image is projected into the camera, and means for inverting the projected image to produce a normal negative.

8. In a camera, an objective lens, means asphotograph an object remote from the normal field of said lens, and means for projecting the object image producedby said ens in inverted position on a sensitized element.

9. In a camera, the combination with an objective lens, of a reflecting element arran ed to reflect to said lens light ra s from an riject remote from the normal fiel of said lens, a focusing screen in said camera arranged to receive an erect image of said object thereon, and means for reflecting an inverted object ima e to a light sensitized element angularly disposed to said. focusing screen.

10. In a camera, the combination with an objective lens, of a reflecting element arranged to reflect to said lens rays from an object remote from the normal field thereof, a focusing screen in said camera arranged to receive an erect ima e of said object thereon, and means for re ecting an inverted object image to a sensitized plate angularly disposed to the focusin screen.

HSMER L. NELMS.

JAMES A. GLENN. 

